Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) by Vikas Swarup

Q&A is a novel about a poor Indian orphan boy. The story takes place in India in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. At the beginning of the novel, Ram Mohammad Thomas, the main character is arrested. He was starring on a game show, Who Will Win a Billion?, and got all twelve general knowledge questions correct. Ram has been accused of cheating because it is thought that a poor orphan working as a waiter could not get all of the questions right.
Ram is tortured and insulted by the police to reveal how he cheated. He is beat and electrocuted. He is rescued by a lawyer who comes out of nowhere and takes Ram to her house. There, he explains how he knew the answers to the questions by narrating his life story and telling how these events in his life help him answer the questions. He narrates his life for hours.
He tells how he was brought up by a priest when his mother abandoned him at an orphanage. He tells about his encounters with friends, Salim Ilyasi, Shankar, and Gudiya, who are sibling-like figures. Ram relates his experiences of being robbed on a train, living in a slum area, and listening to the stories of a war veteran. He recounts all of his previous jobs which include working for an old Bollywood actor, working for a hit man, working for Australian spy, and working at a bar. But most of the key events of his life happen while he is working as an illegal tour guide of the Taj Mahal. While working, he falls in love with a young prostitute named Nita.
Nita falls in love with Ram, and he tries to gather up money to pay to for the release of Nita from the brothel which is owned by her brother. He does not succeed in raising the money while Nita is badly abused, resulting in her being placed in a hospital. Ram signs up to be a contestant on Who Will Win a Billion? partly to raise money for Nita’s operation and freedom and partly because he wants to take revenge on the host of the show, Prem Kumar, who is the one who had abused Nita.
After having had the whole story related to her, the lawyer, Smita Shah, reveals that she is Gudiya, who Ram and become acquainted with in his children as a sister like figure. She vows to fight this case. Eventually she invalidates all accusations and proves Ram’s fair victory. With the money, Ram frees and marries Nita.
This book was a very interesting and riveting novel. I liked it a lot. I recommend it to all mature people that like to read interesting books. I also like this book because I feel an extra connection with because it uses a few Hindi words which I understand, and having been to India I can relate to some things in this novel. This book exposes life in some parts of India very realistically. The books message is well represented in the last line, “Luck comes from within.”